World Turned Upside-Down
by lja136
Summary: It's only a few weeks after the seven friends managed to make it back from Blackwood Mountain alive, yet mystery seems to follow them. Jessica is the latest student at their college to vanish, and it's up to the others to try to find her before it's too late.
1. Power Surge

Note: This story is inspired by Stranger Things. Knowledge of the show is not needed to follow this fic (which is why I don't have it under crossovers), though there are possible spoilers for season 1.

* * *

"Party's finally back together again!" Jessica commented as she set her tray of college cafeteria pizza on the table between Mike's own slice and Sam's salad. She sat down, making room for herself as the seventh person at a six-person table.

"Finally feeling better, Jess?" Sam asked. She refrained from mentioning that certain "party members" were still missing, since it was an unspoken rule to not bring up Josh unless necessary.

"It's been a full week since I've had vertigo," Jessica replied. "So my mom finally trusts me enough to be out on my own without fainting. Have I missed anything?"

"Boring classes are even more boring after excitement. And without you," Mike replied, kissing Jessica's cheek at the end.

"Chris and Ashley are actually a thing now," Matt chimed in.

Ashley opened her mouth to say something, but the lights in the cafeteria flickered and shut off for a moment. A few of the other students screamed and there was a sudden increase of noise until the lights came back on. Chris had his arm around Ashley, both of them still jumpy, and Mike and Sam tensed up.

"Okay, that was weird," Emily commented.

"Just a power surge," Chris replied, though he sounded slightly unsure of himself. He rubbed Ashley's arm in a calming gesture, both to calm her as well as himself. "Something probably hit the power line or something."

"Well, we know one thing it's not, so we don't have to worry," Sam stated in a hushed tone. "Since I don't think anyone here would have any reason to eat human."

"Yeah, right," Ashley agreed, letting out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Tension seemed to leave the whole group at once as the brief power outage seemed more and more to have just been that.

"Anyways, Chris, Ashley, what dates can you even go on that you didn't already do as friends?" Jessica asked the new couple, trying not to let anyone freak out too much about the power surge.

Chris and Ashley glanced at each other a moment before looking back at Jessica. "It's pretty much the same thing, just with more cuddling and hand-holding," Chris replied.

"And more other things I hop-OW!" Mike added, though he got cut off when Ashley kicked him in the shin. She glared while Chris put his free hand up as if to say "wasn't me."

Jessica giggled a little, then turned to her former best friend. "And, uh, Em? Anything new?" she asked tentatively.

"Nothing that's any of your business," Emily replied, not even looking up from her food. There was no insult thrown her way, which was an improvement. Matt had visited Jessica in the hospital and mentioned once that he and Emily were on rocky ground with their relationship, but were still together for now.

"Mmkay," Jessica replied, knowing not to push Emily.

"Well, my next class is about to start. See you all a little later," Sam said, standing up to leave the table.

"I should probably start heading towards my programming class. It's all the way on the other end of campus," Chris added. Ashley got up to walk with him as she tended to do every day.

* * *

The next morning, something was bothering Sam. Her dorm roommate didn't socialize much, but Sam didn't see her at all that night, then in the morning her bed didn't seem like it was slept in. She waited outside of Emily's second class for her friend.

"Sam?" Emily asked, not expecting to see the blonde.

"Hey, Em. I was just wondering, was Jade in your first class with you?" Sam asked. "She never came home to the dorm last night."

Emily shook her head. "Probably just playing hooky. Maybe she decided to spend the night with her parents or at a friends' place," she suggested.

"It's possible, but it would be really unlike her," Sam commented. She pulled out her phone and scrolled through her contacts. "I don't think I ever got her number either."

"Don't worry about it. It's not your job to worry about her," Emily said with a dismissive tone, waving her hand.

"It's kinda hard for me not to worry sometimes," Sam stated with a sigh.

* * *

It was nice to be able to be outside enjoying the fresh air again, without everyone worrying that she could collapse at any moment. Mike was in class, and Jessica didn't care where anyone else was. She had her earbuds in, walking across campus with a bounce in her step as she listened to her music.

Jessica noticed off in one corner of the campus there was a construction fence, and walked over to investigate what was going in. There was nobody there besides the workers far on the other side of the fence, so nobody was there to witness Jessica tripping on a stray piece of debris.

"Ouch! Fuck!" Jessica hissed in pain as she caught herself on her hands and knees. She rolled over to investigate herself, finding a skinned knee and the injury on her chest slightly reopened.

Suddenly she was cast in shadow and looked up, scrambling to her feet when she saw the figure that had appeared out of nowhere. But just as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared with Jessica in its grip.


	2. Struggle

"Get off, get off, get off!" Jessica shouted at her attacker, flailing to try to get away. The further she was dragged, the more desperate she got. No way could this end up like another Jessica-in-distress Wendigo attack.

The creature brought her into some kind of building, and Jessica's eyes widened as she saw the partially-eaten remains of a couple other college students. Among them, she recognized Sam's roommate. Her eyes were wide open in fright, but her midsection was torn open.

"No! Let go of me!" Jessica screamed. She threw her entire body weight away from the creature, managing to slip from its grip. Without pausing, Jessica began to run as fast as she could. Her knee ached, her lungs screamed, but she had to get distance between her and the thing that brought her here.

When she couldn't run anymore, she stopped and looked around. There was no creature, but there was no anybody. What was supposed to be a lively college campus was now barren and appeared to be covered with a strange sort of moss.

"Mike? Sam? Matt?" she called as she walked through the campus. She poked her head inside a few of the classrooms, still finding nobody. She crossed the campus to the dorms, but it was a similar state there. Completely empty. "If anyone is here, anyone, please answer me!" Jessica shouted, only to be met with silence.

* * *

Mike frowned, holding his phone to his ear.

"I must be super busy, so leave a message and I might get back to you," Jessica's pre-recorded voice answered after way too many rings.

It wasn't like Jessica to not answer her phone, especially when Mike was calling.

"Jess? We were going to meet up. My class is out, where are you?" Mike left a voice message before hanging up.

Something seemed very wrong. He sent a group text to the rest of the group. "Anyone seen Jessica? She's not answering her phone."

First reply was from Emily. "I'm not your girlfriend's keeper."

"Nope," was Matt's simple reply.

"I saw her walking around like two hours ago when I was in class," Ashley texted.

"Something weird's going on. Let's meet by the fountain," Sam texted the group.

* * *

"Is this about your roommate again?" Emily asked Sam once the group gathered.

"One person disappearing is strange. Two, though? I think something weird is going on," Sam commented.

"Or your mind is still over-active from everything that happened on the mountain," Chris suggested.

"Maybe. But I'm still willing to look into it," Sam stated.

Mike nodded. "Me too. I can't lose Jessica again," he said.

"Of course, we'll help look for her. Just in case something weird is going on," Chris stated, Ashley nodding in agreement.

"Just use the group text for updates," Mike said.

Mike headed towards the dorms, Ashley and Chris towards the rec areas of the campus, and Sam towards some of the classes she knew Jessica took, leaving Emily and Matt at the fountain.

"I know Jessica hasn't exactly been your favorite person, Em," Matt commented, speaking almost cautiously. He always had a hard time predicting how Emily would respond to anything. That used to excite him, but lately it just meant he couldn't tell when to expect verbal punches thrown his way.

"Jessica's been through more than enough already," Emily stated. Matt let out the tension in his shoulders and gave a smile. "Just because she can be a catty bitch sometimes doesn't mean I want her in any real danger."

"Good, because I was planning on helping the search party for her," Matt stated. "And I could use a partner."

"Because you have the observational skills of a rock?" Emily teased as she started walking in a direction she didn't notice anyone else go in yet.

"Something like that," Matt replied, a hint of humor to his tone as he followed Emily.

The two of them ended up by the construction zone, and Emily paused when she stepped on something. "Huh, what's-" she began to ask as she bent down to pick up a cell phone, still playing music through the earbuds.

"It's Jessica's," Matt commented with a frown. "I think this confirms that something happened to her."

* * *

"Fucking hell," Mike exclaimed, seeing Matt's text about the phone. He reached into his pocket, clutching the pocket knife that hasn't left his person since he got back from Blackwood Mountain. He would've preferred a gun, but he couldn't get one. Threatening your ex-girlfriend with a gun tended to make it harder for people to trust you with weapons.

He was in his dorm room, deciding to check there to see if Jessica was waiting to surprise him. No such luck. He fell heavily onto his bed as he tried to think of the next step, but all's he could think about was threatening whoever took her.

His dorm lights flickering brought Mike out of his daydream. "That's weird," he commented aloud to himself. Something felt really odd, almost like he wasn't alone, even though he clearly was. "Is someone there? Hello?" he called out, with only the blinking lights answering.

* * *

The creature looked human, did it think like a human too? Jessica wanted to hide in the dorms, but didn't want to hide in her own dorm, just in case that was too obvious. Her second choice was Mike's room. She cautiously walked through the halls, listening for any sign of the creature.

Once she was close to Mike's room, she darted in, closing the door behind her.

"That's weird," she faintly heard Mike's voice echoing. He seemed so far, yet he seemed like he was right there.

"Mike? Michael!" Jessica shouted, looking around for her boyfriend. She opened the closet door, looked under the bed, but still couldn't find any sign of life.

"Is someone there? Hello?" Mike's voice was louder, a little clearer.

"I'm right here! Michael, if you can hear me, say something!" Jessica desperately shouted. After her question was met with silence, she fell to her knees, her fatigue catching up with her.

"Someone, help me, please," she begged.


	3. Conspiracy

"I know it sounds crazy, which is why I came to you and not any of the others," Mike told Sam the next morning. He had insisted on meeting up with Sam before classes to talk to her. "My lights flickered, then it felt like somebody was with me. It felt like Jessica was in the room with me, even though I couldn't see her."

"You mean like a ghost?" Sam asked in a hushed tone, leaning in to listen to Mike.

"Please, don't say that," Mike begged, bringing his hands up to his temples as if he could ward off the thought. "It was like a warm presence, not like a cold one like a ghost."

"You might be imagining things, Mike, but at the same time… I honestly don't know what to believe anymore," Sam admitted with a sigh.

"Me neither," Mike said. "But until I see proof this time, I'm going to assume that Jessica's alive."

A noise behind Mike startled him. He jumped and spun around, pulling his knife out of his pocket on instinct.

There was a yelp of surprise from Ashley, and Chris had one arm around her, one hand up in a placating gesture towards Mike.

"Hey, man, it's just us," Chris stated. "You carry a knife now?"

"After all the mountain shit, it makes me feel safer having a weapon on me," Mike said, relaxing and putting his pocket knife away.

"Even though even if wendigoes could get to us here, a knife would be useless on them?" Chris asked.

"It's not just wendigoes I'm scared of," Mike stated.

"Anyways," Ashley cut in, not wanting to think of all the ways they could be attacked right now. "I decided to do a little research, and there have been a couple other students who mysteriously stopped showing up to classes. Daniel Armen seems like he's the first, Except maybe Brittany Lang. Though apparently she wasn't doing well in her classes, so her vanishing isn't really that strange, except for the timing."

"And just this morning, I overheard in my dorm someone commenting that a student named Ryan hasn't been seen since last night and didn't come back to his dorm," Chris added. "So, I'd say something is definitely causing students to disappear."

"Just what we need. Another psycho murder mystery to solve," Sam commented with a sarcastic bite to her tone.

Mike was thoughtful for a moment. "The lights were flickering at my dorm last night. Was it the same for yours?" he asked Chris.

"Come to think of it, yeah," Chris replied with a nod.

"Not mine though," Sam chimed in, with Ashley shaking her head.

"But there was a power outage the day that your roommate disappeared, too," Ashley commented to Sam. "And apparently they're sometimes localized. I wonder if there was any power surges when Jessica vanished."

"I'll see what I can find out about that," Sam stated with a nod. Besides Mike, she was the one with the most connections around the school outside of their group, and Mike didn't seem up to socializing.

* * *

"You found the phone around here, right?" Sam asked Emily, the two girls returning to the construction site fence.

"Yeah, it was on the ground right here," Emily replied, pointing out the spot.

"Let's see if there's been any electrical problems," Sam suggested, going into the nearest school building, Emily in tow. Just a couple steps into the building and Sam spotted someone she recognized. "Hey, Thompson," she greeted one of the professors.

"Oh, Sam! It's a pleasure to see you again. How are your classes going this quarter?" he asked.

"Fine, except the power surges that keep happening," Sam replied, as if it was just a casual complaint. "I bet they're disrupting your classes, too."

Thompson nodded. "They are a bit annoying, but it happens sometimes when there's a big construction project going on," he commented. "They end up messing with the power sometimes, and this building gets the brunt of it for being so close."

Sam looked at Emily, her eyebrow raised. Emily apparently had the same thought and pulled out her phone to send a message in the group text.

* * *

"Power outages apparently due to construction? Doesn't seem right, but may be connected."

Mike frowned as he read the text from Emily.

"No way that construction would cause just our dorm's power to flicker," Chris commented to Mike, voicing everyone's thoughts.

"I'm taking a look tonight," Mike told the group in a hushed tone.

"Mike, you can't just break into a construction zone just because they might be behind something shady," Matt protested, having joined the group once he got out of his class.

"Especially if they might be behind disappearances," Ashley added. "You could be next."

"Well, I have to do something, and I'm not hearing any other plans," Mike stated.

* * *

That night, Mike waited until midnight before leaving his dorm. Thankfully his roommate was a heavy sleeper. He snuck across campus to the construction fence, straining his eyes against the darkness to try to see what was going on. There was a faint light emanating from the building that was being constructed, but that was all he could notice.

"Alright, this is easy," Mike assured himself in a hushed tone, before hopping up onto the fence, sticking his fingers through the chain link and trying to shove the toes of his shoes into what footholds he could get. He winced in pain when he put too much weight on his left hand, forgetting that he was down a couple fingers on that side.

Mike easily climbed the fence, landing heavily on the other side. He paused a moment to make sure nothing was coming, before walking towards the building. "What is this?" he asked himself as he approached the door. It didn't look like classes, it looked more like a lab of sorts. But the campus already had a fairly new science building.

Once he determined there was nothing of interest in the entryway, Mike started exploring deeper into the building. There was a set of stairs that led downward into a strangely finished-looking basement.

"What do you think you're doing here?" a man forcefully asked from behind Mike, and he felt his left arm getting firmly grabbed.


	4. Some Answers, More Questions

"Let go of me!" Mike shouted, quickly grabbing his knife and swinging around to slash at the person who had grabbed him.

"Hey, what the fuck!" the guard exclaimed as he jumped back, the knife cutting into his forearm. "You're trespassing on construction property. You need to leave."

"Not before I see what's in that basement," Mike insisted, keeping his knife pointed towards the guard. "What are you keeping down there? The missing students?"

"Construction equipment," the guard stated as though it were obvious. "Dangerous stuff that I don't want you hurting yourself on."

"Then show me," Mike insisted.

"What?"

"If you have nothing to hide, and don't want me hurting myself, then come with me to show me what's down there," Mike explained.

However, Mike didn't notice a second figure walk up silently behind him. She pricked him in the side of the neck with a fine needle, and Mike fell to the ground, asleep.

"I had it under control," the first guard commented, grunting as he picked up Mike's sleeping form.

The woman smirked. "Didn't look like it. I can tell this kid's been through hell. I don't think he'll give up this easily. If he tries to be a problem again, why don't we show him exactly what he wants to see?"

* * *

"Your classes are starting soon, aren't they?" Mike's roommate's voice pulled Mike out of a deep sleep. "Probably should start getting ready."

"Wait, what?" Mike began to ask, trying to get his bearings. He didn't remember going to bed last night, but here he was, in his boxers like how he usually slept. He had vague memories of going to the construction site, and getting caught, but what happened after was fuzzy.

"You didn't go to one of those late night parties at the trails, did you?" his roommate asked. "I went to one like a week ago. I think something that happened there broke Danny's will to come to school, since I haven't seen him since."

Mike shook his head. "No, I think I was just sleeping so heavily I'm just kinda out of it. Thanks for getting me up, though," Mike replied, waving him off.

He watched his roommate leave the room, before sending a text.

"Construction site still v. suspicious. But just heard that one of the disappearances was after a party at the campus trails."

"Ash and I will take a look," Chris replied.

* * *

After their classes, Ashley and Chris headed to the back of the college's campus, where nature trails cut through a wooded area.

"This is an odd place for a party," Chris commented as they looked for anything suspicious.

"Well, outside means unlimited room for unlimited people," Ashley responded. "And in the woods, they can be pretty loud without needing to worry."

"Well, it looks like I can confirm there have been parties out here," Chris commented, bending down to pick up broken glass from a beer bottle. However, his finger hit the sharp edge and started to bleed. Chris hissed in pain.

"Chris, you alright?" Ashley asked, immediately returning to Chris and looking at his bleeding finger.

"Just a little cut, don't worry," Chris replied, sticking the injury in his mouth briefly.

"I think I might have a band-aid," Ashley commented, beginning to dig in her purse. She sighed in disappointment. "I must've used the last one."

"It's okay, I just won't use this hand," Chris assured her.

The two of them split up to search the party site more effectively, Chris keeping true to his word and being careful about using his injured hand. He eventually found a large tree with a large hole that seemed to bore through the trunk, some sort of damp moss hanging from the hole.

"Huh, what's this?" Chris mused aloud as he tried to peer through the darkness and moss. He stood up to investigate further, but before he got far, he ended up face-to-face with some sort of faceless, humanoid creature.

Chris's eyes widened in fear as he tried to back away. "Ashley, be careful," he shouted.

"What is it, Chris?" Ashley called back. She followed his voice, though she stopped in her tracks when she saw the creature herself.

The creature's head seemed to open like a flower, revealing a toothy maw that screeched at Chris. Chris stumbled slightly as he hastily turned to run away, but the creature was quicker. It bounded forward and caught Chris by the legs in its clawed hands, pulling him into the hole in the tree. Chris shouted out in fear as he began to be dragged backwards on his stomach.

"Chris!" Ashley shouted. She set aside her fear and sprinted to Chris, trying to reach his hands as he tried to claw his way away from the creature. As she reached the tree, the hole began to close. She desperately reached as far as she could into the hole after Chris, but he was too far. She pulled her hand out of the hole before it too became trapped.

"Chris, I'm going to try to get you out," Ashley shouted, trying to pull the hole back open by her fingertips as it came to a close. "Chris, no, please," she begged as she began to cry, desperately clawing at the now-solid bark, trying to find the hole that no longer existed. She hissed in pain as the bark cut at her finger tips, only stopping when her fingers went numb. She rested her forehead head on the tree as she sobbed. "Chris, I can't lose you. Not now, please."

* * *

"Ashley!" Chris shouted as he watched the portal close. Even though he couldn't see her anymore, he can still hear her voice, her crying.

A second wave of adrenaline kicked in, and he struck out as hard as he could with his free foot, trying to hit the creature's arm. "Let go of me, you fucker!" he shouted as he kicked. He twisted himself around just enough so he could see what he was doing, and aimed a solid kick to its elbow. Apparently that was a good choice, as the creature screeched and ran away.

Chris quickly scrambled to his feet, looking for the source of Ashley's sobs. "Ashley, I'm right here. Where are you?" he yelled.

"Chris, I can't lose you. Not now, please."

She sounded so lost, and desperate. "You haven't lost me, Ashley. I'll find a way to get back to you, I promise," Chris stated. Following her voice just led him back to the same tree, but she clearly wasn't there.

* * *

"Ashley, oh my god, there you are!" Sam exclaimed, running up to the crying teen, Matt right behind. "I texted you and Chris an hour ago."

Ashley was now sitting at the base of the tree that Chris vanished into, her face tear-stained and red, hoping beyond reason that if she just waited, Chris would make it back to her.

"Oh no," Matt said with a frown. "Where's Chris?"

"There-there was this creature, or person maybe? It looked kinda Wendigo-ish in proportions but its face opened up like it had petals and it grabbed Chris and pulled him into a hole in the tree but then the hole closed up and I don't know where he is now and oh my god, I really hope he's okay, because-"

"Shh, hey, I'm sure he is," Sam gently interrupted, putting a soothing hand on Ashley's shoulder. She reached down with both hands to help Ashley up, which she gratefully took. "We just have to keep investigating."

"And now we have a couple more details to go on," Matt pointed out, trying to stay positive.


End file.
